Alarm and monitoring system and method of operation thereof

ABSTRACT

An alarm and monitoring system including a primary device and at least one secondary device, the alarm and monitoring system including at least one controller configured to: determine whether at least one alarm event is set; establish a wireless communication between a primary device and the secondary device, when it is determined that the alarm event has been set; transmit an alarm event signal including alarm information from the primary device to the secondary device in accordance with the alarm event that is determined to have been set; generate an alarm signal by the secondary device in accordance with at least the alarm information; and render the generated alarm signal on a rendering device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromprior U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/078,460 filed on Nov.12, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM

The present system relates to an alarm and monitoring system and, moreparticularly, to an alarm system with sound and/or vibrate mode and/or amonitoring system, which may be controlled by a primary device, such asa smartphone and/or other primary device, and a method of operationthereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM

As smart phones become more pervasive, users rely upon an alarm functionof the smart phone to generate an audible alarm. Unfortunately, audiblealarms have a tendency of waking up more than their intended users.Accordingly, alarms which can vibrate to alert a user have becomepopular. However, current silent-type alarms must typically be worn by auser to be effective. For example, one common type of silent type alarmmust be worn on a wrist of a user. Similarly, monitoring type systems,such as those that monitor sleep, blood pressure, pulse, blood gases,etc., must be worn, which may be of inconvenience to the user. Further,it has been difficult, if not, impossible to customize the prior alarmin accordance with user's settings. Accordingly, embodiments of thepresent system may overcome these and/or other disadvantages in priorsystems.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM

The system(s), device(s), method(s), arrangements(s), user interface(s),computer program(s), processes, etc. (hereinafter each of which will bereferred to as system, unless the context indicates otherwise),described herein address problems in prior art systems.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, there is disclosedan alarm and monitoring system including a primary device and at leastone secondary device, the alarm and monitoring system including at leastone controller that determines whether at least one alarm event hasoccurred; establishes a wireless communication between a primary deviceand the secondary device, when it is determined that the alarm event hasoccurred; generates an alarm event signal including alarm information inaccordance with the alarm event that is determined to have occurred;transmits the alarm event signal from the primary device to thesecondary device; generates an alarm signal in accordance with at leastthe alarm information; renders the generated alarm signal on a renderingdevice of the secondary device. The controller generates the alarm eventsignal that causes the secondary device to render the generated alarmsignal.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, at least onecontroller may receive the transmitted alarm event signal at thesecondary device which may generate the alarm signal. In operation, theat least one controller may determine capabilities of the secondarydevice and form the alarm event signal in accordance with the determinedcapabilities of the secondary device. When generating the alarm signal,the at least one controller may generate the alarm signal in accordancewith a selected melody. The secondary device may control one or moreother devices to generate the alarm signal. The one or more otherdevices may include auditory, visual and/or haptic rendering devices togenerate the alarm signal.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, there is discloseda method of operating an alarm and monitoring system comprising aprimary device and at least one secondary device, the method comprisingacts performed by at least one controller of determining whether atleast one alarm event is set; establishing a communication between aprimary device and the secondary device when it is determined that thealarm event has been set; transmitting an alarm event signal includingalarm information from the primary device to the secondary device inaccordance with the alarm event that is determined to have been set;generating an alarm signal by the secondary device in accordance with atleast the alarm information; and rendering the generated alarm signal ona rendering device. The act of establishing the communication mayinclude an act of establishing a wireless communication between theprimary and secondary devices. The method may include an act ofgenerating the alarm signal at the secondary device.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the method mayinclude an act of determining capabilities of the secondary device. Themethod may further include an act of forming the alarm event signal inaccordance with the determined capabilities of the secondary device. Theact of generating the alarm signal may include an act of determiningwhether communication is established between the primary and secondarydevices. When it is determined that communication is established, themethod may include an act of providing a user interface in accordancewith the determined capabilities of the secondary device. The method mayinclude one or more acts of generating the alarm signal in accordancewith rendering information that is stored in a local memory, controllingone or more other devices to generate the alarm signal and the one ormore other devices generating at least one of an auditory, visual andhaptic alarm signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is explained in further detail in the followingexemplary embodiments and with reference to the figures, where identicalor similar elements may be partly indicated by the same or similarreference numerals, and the features of various exemplary embodimentsbeing combinable. In the drawings:

FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of a portion of an alarm and monitoringsystem in accordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 1B shows block diagram of a device operating in accordance withembodiments of the present system;

FIG. 2A shows a partially cutaway top front perspective viewillustration of a portion of a device in accordance with embodiments ofthe present system;

FIG. 2B shows a bottom front perspective view of a portion of a devicein accordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 3A shows a top planar view of a portion of a device in accordancewith embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 3B shows a bottom planar view of a portion of a device inaccordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 3C shows a rear planar view of a portion of a device in accordancewith embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 4 shows a partially exploded front perspective view of a device inaccordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 5 shows a functional flow diagram of a portion of a processperformed in accordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 6 shows a screen shot of portion of an alarm configurationgraphical user interface (GUI) generated in accordance with embodimentsof the present system;

FIG. 7 shows a screen shot of a portion of an alarm configuration GUIgenerated in accordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 8 shows a screen shot of a portion of an alarm configuration GUIgenerated in accordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 9A shows a portion of a graphical representation that may berendered in accordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 9B shows a portion of a graphical representation that may berendered in accordance with embodiments of the present system;

FIG. 9C shows a portion of a graphical representation that may berendered in accordance with embodiments of the present system; and

FIG. 10 shows a portion of a system in accordance with embodiments ofthe present system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM

The following are descriptions of illustrative embodiments that whentaken in conjunction with the following drawings will demonstrate theabove noted features and advantages, as well as further ones. In thefollowing description, for purposes of explanation rather thanlimitation, illustrative details are set forth such as architecture,interfaces, techniques, element attributes, etc. However, it will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodimentsthat depart from these details would still be understood to be withinthe scope of the appended claims. Moreover, for the purpose of clarity,detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, tools,techniques, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the descriptionof the present system. It should be expressly understood that thedrawings are included for illustrative purposes and do not represent theentire scope of the present system. In the accompanying drawings, likereference numbers in different drawings may designate similar elements.

The present system as described in more detail below may provide for aprimary device that utilizes a user interface to enable setup andprogramming of a secondary device. In accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, the primary device may operate as a master device to thesecondary device which in these embodiments operates as a slave device(e.g., master/slave relationship between devices). Other relationshipsbetween devices may be suitably utilized in accordance with embodimentsof the present system and are intended to be encompassed by thesimplified following discussion.

In operation the primary device may transfer alarm information to thesecondary device that at an alarm time, may operate as an alarm devicewith sound and/or vibrate mode. Further, the secondary device mayoperate, such as using a wireless connection, to control other devicessuch as a haptic device (e.g., vibrating), light source (e.g., lamp turnon, gradually brighten and/or flashing) and/or speaker (e.g., renderaudio) for rendering the alarm. Further, the secondary device mayoperate to control other devices such as a haptic, visual, auditory,and/or environmental device such as a thermostat for example to respondto the alarm information such as to adjust an environment based on thealarm information (e.g., warm a room before a wake-up alarm isgenerated).

FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of a portion of an alarm and monitoringsystem (hereinafter system for the sake of clarity) 100A in accordancewith embodiments of the present system. The system 100A may include adevice 102 (which may be referred to herein as a primary device) and oneor more secondary devices illustratively shown as secondary devices110-1 through 110-P (generally secondary device 110-x).

The primary device 102 and the secondary device 110-x may communicatewith each other over any suitable connection such as over the network103 which may be accessed using wired and/or wireless communicationlinks. For example, the primary device 102 and the secondary device110-x may communicate over a network 103 using any suitable wireless, atleast in part, communication method or protocols such as WiFi™,Bluetooth™, Internet Protocol, or the like. In addition or in place of anetwork-based communication, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, a partial hardwired communication connection, such as ahome wired network, a direct wired connection, such as through a directcable connection, and/or a direct wireless communication, such as one ormore connections 103-x, such as Bluetooth™, etc., is also envisioned.The discussion of the network, such as the network 103 herein should beunderstood to include any one or more of the communication systemsand/or others that may be suitably applied. For example, in accordancewith an embodiment, the primary device may communicate with thesecondary device over a Bluetooth™ connection while the secondary devicecommunicates with another device (e.g., one or more other devices 140-x)using a WiFi™ connection. As appreciated, the same or differentconnections may be made between various devices which may also vary overtime (e.g., WiFi™ connection at one time and Bluetooth™ connection atanother time).

Further, one or more of the secondary devices 110-x may operate, such asusing a wireless connection (e.g., network 103), to control the one ormore other devices 140-x, such as a haptic device (e.g., vibrating),light device (e.g., lamp turn on, gradually brighten and/or flashing),speaker (e.g., render audio) and/or other device (e.g., a thermostat)for rendering the alarm information and/or otherwise responding. Inaccordance with embodiments of the present system, one or more of therendering devices may be a portion of the secondary device such that thesecondary device and/or the other device may respond to the alarminformation.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the primary device102 may include any suitable communication device such as smartphone(e.g., an IPhone™, etc.), laptop, tablet, etc., and may run one or moreapplications to provide functionality as described herein. However, itis also envisioned that the primary device 102 may include additionalcommunication devices such as a dedicated alarm communication deviceand/or processor operating in accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem.

With regard to the secondary device 110-x, each of these devices mayinclude a unique identification (ID) which may be used to identifyand/or otherwise communicate with the corresponding secondary device110-x, as desired. With regard to the secondary devices 110-x, one ormore of these devices may for example be similar to and/or differ (e.g.,provide a different form and/or function) from each other and/or fromthe illustrative discussion herein. However, for the sake of clarity,only a single secondary device 110 is generally illustratively discussedunless the context indicates otherwise.

FIG. 1B shows block diagram 100B of a secondary device 210 operating inaccordance with embodiments of the present system. The secondary device210 may, for example, be similar to the secondary device 110 and mayinclude one or more of a controller 202, a memory 204, one or morerendering devices, such as a display 206, a speaker (SPK) 212, and/or ahaptic device such as a vibrator 216, a microphone (MIC) 214, atransmit/receive (Tx/Rx) portion 218, and/or one or more sensors 208,one or more of which may communicate with each other and/or to thecontroller 202. Power for the secondary device 210 may be provided by apower storage device 220 such as a battery. While each of the componentsof the secondary device 210 are separately depicted, it is envisionedthat two or more of the components may also be integrated together. Forexample, the controller 202 may include a microprocessor and thetransmit/receive (Tx/Rx) portion 218. Further, one or more of therendering devices, such as one or more of the display 206, the speaker(SPK) 212, and/or the haptic device 216 may also or in place of beingenclosed with the secondary device 210, be provided separate from thesecondary device 210 yet be controlled (e.g., wirelessly) to operate asdescribed herein such as one or more of the other devices 140-x (e.g.,haptic device, light device, speaker, thermostat, etc.) illustrativelyshown in FIG. 1A. For example, the secondary device 210 may controlother devices wirelessly, such as a heating/ventilation thermostatand/or other system to control the other system to respond (e.g., adjustheating/ventilation) to the alarm information as described herein. Thecontroller 202 suitably configured may control the overall operation ofthe secondary device 210 and may include one or more logic devices suchas switches, gates, micro-controllers, processors (e.g.,micro-processors, etc.) and/or the like to process information inaccordance with embodiments of the present system. The memory 204 mayinclude any suitable memory such as local and/or distributed memorywhich may store application programs (e.g., Mobile Applications, etc.),user information (e.g., user settings, etc.), system settings, etc. Thememory 204 may include a local and/or distributed memories, as desired.In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the memory 204 maystore software such as applications which may configure the controller202 to operate as a special purpose controller and/or processor inaccordance with embodiments of the present system. In accordance withembodiments of the present system, the memory 204 may includenon-transitory memory.

The Tx/Rx portion 218 may receive information from the controller 202for transmission via any suitable wireless and/or wired system asdescribed herein, via the antenna (ANT) and/or may receive informationfrom any suitable wireless and/or wired system such as the antenna (ANT)and provide this information to the controller 202. The Tx/Rx portion218 may for example further up convert and/or down convert informationas may be suitable for operation as configured. In accordance withembodiments of the present system, the Tx/Rx portion 218 may communicatevia any suitable communication method such as via a wireless network,and/or other network as described. In accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, the Tx/Rx portion 218 may communicate for example usingany suitable communication protocol and/or system such as via WiFi™and/or Bluetooth™ systems.

The one or more rendering devices including one or more of a visual,auditory and/or haptic rendering device may be a portion of thesecondary device 210 and/or may be housed in an enclosure separate fromthe secondary device 210. In embodiments where there are one or moreseparate rendering devices, the controller 202 may communicate with theseparate rendering devices for example utilizing the Tx/Rx portion 218.The one or more rendering devices may operate to provide a userinterface UI 206 that may include a display (DISP) (e.g., a touch-screendisplay) or the like which may render information such as a graphicaluser interface (GUI) for operation in accordance with embodiments of thepresent system. For example, the controller 202 may form a userinterface (UI) such as a GUI and provide the GUI to the display forrendering in accordance with embodiments of the present system. Further,in accordance with embodiments of the present system the user interface(UI) 206 may provide illumination sources such as one or more lightemitting diodes (LEDs) which may be lit individually and/or collectively(e.g., two or more) to indicate information for the convenience of theuser. Operation of the rendering devices contained herein is understoodto apply whether the rendering device is provided as a portion of thesecondary device 210 or is enclosed separate from it.

In accordance with embodiments wherein the UI 206 includes an auditoryportion, a speaker 212 may include one or more speakers which may renderaudio information, for example obtained from the controller 202, thememory 204, the Tx/Rx portion 218, etc., for the user. For example, thespeaker 212 may provide auditory information to a user, such as anauditory alarm, sounds to facilitate relaxation (nature sounds, music,etc.), sleep, etc., under control of the controller 202. Similarly, thehaptic device 216 may provide haptic information to a user, such as ahaptic alarm, etc., under control of the controller 202. Such hapticand/or auditory information may be pre-stored locally in the memoryand/or may be transmitted to the device 210-x in a suitable format priorto being rendered, such at the time of interaction with the primarydevice. In an embodiment wherein the haptic and/or auditory device areprovided separate from the secondary device 210, the secondary device210 may control (e.g., using a Bluetooth™ communication link) theseparate haptic and/or auditory device to activate at the time of analarm.

In an embodiment wherein the haptic and/or auditory device is operatedto notify, awaken, or otherwise alert the user, the haptic device and/orspeaker may render related information at a fixed and/or ascending(e.g., periodically increasing) level as programmed and/or otherwiseset, desired, etc. For example, in an embodiment wherein an ascendinghaptic and/or auditory level is produced, the haptic and/or auditorylevel may start at a first level for a period of time, which in an eventwherein the user does not operate to stop rendering, the controller mayoperate periodically to increase the haptic and/or auditory level tohigher levels until a maximum level is reached or the user operates tostop the rendering. Similarly, in an embodiment wherein a descendinghaptic and/or auditory level is produced, the haptic and/or auditorylevel may start at a first level for a period of time, which in an eventwherein the user does not operate to stop rendering, the controller mayoperate periodically to decrease the haptic and/or auditory level tolower levels until a minimum level is reached or the user operates tostop the rendering. In accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem, the controller may operate through programming and/orconstruction to produce a fixed haptic and/or auditory level until theuser operates to stop the rendering. The system may produce acorresponding haptic and/or auditory level for a period of time, atwhich time, the controller may operate to stop the rendering withoutuser intervention.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the MIC 214 mayacquire ambient sound and form corresponding audio information which maythen be provided to the controller 202 for further processing. Forexample, the MIC 214 may detect ambient sounds such as sounds formed bya user (e.g., such as voice commands, sleeping sounds, etc.) and maycorrespondingly provide audio information to the controller 202 forstorage, transmittal, and/or further processing. For example, thecontroller 202 after receipt may then further process this audioinformation and may transmit the audio information to the primary device(e.g., 100, FIG. 1A) for further processing. In accordance withembodiments of the present system, the controller 202 may store theaudio in the memory 204 for later use, such as for later transmission,as desired, programmed, etc.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the MIC 214 mayacquire sounds such as voice commands (requests), sleeping sounds, etc.,from a user. The sounds may be received by the controller 202 which maystore and/or transmit these sounds (e.g., voice commands) as raw and/orprocessed information to the primary device (e.g., 100, FIG. 1A) whichmay then process these sounds (e.g., using speech-to-text (STT)processing) for example to identify the sounds and take appropriateaction. In accordance with embodiments of the present system, a usermay, for example, provide a voice command, such as request a snoozeoperation of an alarm, answer a call, hang up on a call, create a textmessage, read or send a text message, etc. For example, the MIC 214 mayacquire audio information which may for example be used by thecontroller 202 to initiate and/or terminate hands-free phone calls. Inaccordance with embodiments of the present system, the MIC 214 may beincluded as one of the sensors 208. Further, the present system mayprovide a hands-free functionality for the user by the secondary device210 operating with the primary device (e.g., primary device 102) inaccordance with embodiments of the present system. Further, thesecondary device of the present system may acquire sleeping sounds forprocessing by or together with the primary device (e.g., primary device102) in accordance with embodiments of the present system for example toenable sleep analysis and/or sleep recommendations.

The one or more sensors 208 may include one or more sensors which maydetect sound, light, touch, temperature, humidity, pressure,orientation, motion, and/or acceleration and form corresponding sensorinformation including temporal data related to the sensor information(e.g., periodic sensor information and a time of the periodic sensorinformation) for example, to enable sleep analysis as described herein.For example, temporal sensor information may be utilized to determine anenvironment (e.g., sound, light, temperature, humidity and ambientpressure) of a user during sleep as well as the user response (e.g.,snoring, motion, etc.) to the environment.

Further, in accordance with embodiments of the present system, touchsensors may include hard and/or soft switches/sensors which may forexample detect motion, touch, etc., and form corresponding sensorinformation. The motion and/or acceleration sensors may detect motionand/or acceleration in (or along) one or more axes and may formcorresponding sensor information (e.g. acceleration information). Forexample, in accordance with embodiments of the present system one ormore acceleration sensors may form acceleration informationcorresponding to one or more axis. In accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, a drop sensor may be provided to detect a fall and formcorresponding information.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, orientationsensors may detect an orientation of the secondary device 210 and formcorresponding orientation information. For example, in accordance withembodiments of the present system, the orientation sensors may detect aright-side or upside down orientation of the secondary device 210 andform corresponding information. In embodiments, it is envisioned thatthe orientation sensor(s) may detect an orientation of the secondarydevice 210 relative to a fixed orientation such as magnetic north andform corresponding sensor information (e.g., orientation information).For example, the sensor(s) may collect information related to a user'ssleep habits (e.g., sounds, motion, etc.) and form corresponding sensorinformation which may then be transmitted to the primary device (e.g.,primary device102) for further processing by its controller, such as toprovide recommendations to the user related to the sleep habits asdescribed herein. For example, in embodiments wherein the secondarydevice 210 in positioned to monitor a user's sleep habits (e.g.,positioned under a pillow and/or otherwise positioned, fastened, etc.with relation to a pillow, mattress, etc., of a user), the motionsensor(s) may collect (e.g., store) and/or transmit motion informationto the primary device which may then be utilized to determine/tracksleep quality using this information as discussed.

The haptic device 216 may include any suitable haptic device which mayrender haptic information. For example, in accordance with embodimentsof the present system, the haptic device 216 may include any suitablevibrator (VIB) (e.g., a rotational or linear motor with an unbalancedmass) that may generate vibration which may be sensed by a user. Thehaptic device may be shaped, sized, and/or powered, etc., such that itmay generate sufficient vibration to notify, wake, etc., a user evenwhen placed, for example, under a pillow or the like. In accordance withembodiments of the present system, the VIB may be driven using a signalwhich may have a uniform, periodic (e.g., sinusoidal, etc.), and/ornon-periodic drive signal so that, for example, the vibration may varyin accordance with the drive signal. The power device 220 may includeany suitable power storage device which may store power such as abattery, a capacitor, and/or the like.

FIG. 2A shows a partially cutaway top front perspective viewillustration of a portion of a device 200, such as a device 210-x (e.g.,illustratively a secondary device), in accordance with embodiments ofthe present system. As readily appreciated, the device may take otherforms including a form that may be fastened to a pillow, mattress, etc.,of a user, etc. Any of these suitable forms are encompassed by thedescription herein. As described, one or more of the components, such asthe rendering devices may be provided separate from the secondary device200, yet still be operated as described herein. The secondary device 200may for example be similar to the secondary device 110, 210 and mayinclude a formed body 260 for example having an upper housing 262, alower housing 264, a middle housing 266, and/or an interface portion276. For example, the body 260 may define an interior cavity 261 and maycontain one or more components in accordance with embodiments of thepresent system. The interface portion 276 may include one or moreswitches, connection ports for communicating with the secondary device200, and/or a rendering device, such as a display (e.g., one or morelight-emitting diodes (LEDs)), etc. For example, in accordance withembodiments of the present system, the interface portion 276 may includeone or more switches, buttons, etc., (e.g., a button 268), such as asnooze button, a stop button (e.g., to stop rendering), a power switch270, a battery charging port 272, and/or one or more MIC 274. As readilyappreciated, any one or more of the switches, buttons, etc., may performone or more operations in accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem. For example, in one mode a button may operate as a snooze buttonto temporarily stop the rendering of an alarm while in a separate mode,such as during the establishment of a communication link, the button mayoperate to initiate the communication link.

The switches such as the button 268 and/or the power switch 270 may besituated for example around a periphery of the housing 266 so as to beshielded from accidental activation. However, in yet other embodiments,it is envisioned that one or more of the buttons, switches, etc., may belocated elsewhere such as on one or more of the upper and lower housing262 and 264, respectively. However, a cover such as a hinged cover, alocking mechanism, or other type of shielding (e.g., a wire protector)may be provided to shield one or more of the buttons, switches, etc.,from accidental activation, intrusion, etc.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the button 268and/or the power switch 270 may include any suitable switch type such ashard (e.g., pushbutton-type, slide-type, toggle-type) and/or soft (e.g.,touch-sensitive-type, programmable, alterable display or indication ofoperation, etc.) switch of one or more types. For example, it isenvisioned that the button 268 and/or the power switch 270 may be formedusing one or more hard and/or soft type switches such astouch-sensitive-type switches. Further, in accordance with embodimentsof the present system, a snooze and/or power operation may include oneor more switches (e.g., a combination of switches actuatedsimultaneously and/or in sequence, such as press switch key 1 and key 2together for snooze, etc.). In accordance with embodiments of thepresent system wherein more than one switch/sensor is utilized for anoperation, this combination may be assigned by default, by the user bythe system and/or otherwise programmed.

The power switch 270 may be for example hard-type switch such as aslide-type switch which may be activated (e.g., switched on) and/ordeactivated (e.g., switched off) by sliding as illustrated by arrow 207.When, the power switch 270 is placed in the “on” position, thesecondary-device 200 may be turned on for operation in accordance withthe present system. When, the power switch 270 is placed in the “off”position, the secondary-device 200 may be turned off or otherwise beplaced in an inactive state, such as in a low-power or no power usagestate.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the button 268 mayinclude a press-type switch and may generate for example a snooze signalwhich may be transmitted to a primary-device (e.g., primary device 102)for further processing. For example, depressing a snooze button maycause the primary device to suspend a rendering, such as an auditoryalarm, for example for a period of time (e.g., 5 minutes, etc.). Inaccordance with embodiments of the present system, each time the button268 is depressed, a controller of the system may extend (e.g., stack,add or otherwise extend a current delay time) and/or otherwise provide adelay time until the next alarm by a desired period of time such as 5minutes, etc., as may be set by default, by the system, by a user and/orotherwise programmed.

The battery charging port 272 may include any suitable port forreceiving a cable and/or device such as a universal-serial bus(USB)-type port or the like to provide power to the secondary device200. However, in accordance with embodiments of the present system, itis envisioned that other types of ports and/or a wireless charge portmay be provided, for example to wirelessly provide power to charge abattery and/or otherwise provide power to the secondary device 200. Inaccordance with embodiments of the present system, the port 272 may alsooperate as the transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) portion, such as thetransmit/receive (Tx/Rx) portion 218, for transmitting and/or receivingprogramming instructions, such as alarm settings, monitoring settings,melodies, etc., as described herein.

FIG. 2B shows a bottom front perspective view of a portion of thesecondary device 200 in accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem. Caps 278 may be mounted within openings 280 that are configuredto receive securing devices such as screws. The caps 278 may fit flushor may extend slightly past an exterior periphery of the lower housing264 so as to act as mounting pads or cushions.

FIG. 3A shows a top planar view of a portion of the secondary device 200in accordance with embodiments of the present system. As previouslydiscussed, the body 260 may have any desired shape such as a roundshape, ovoid, and/or partial ovoid. However, in accordance withembodiments of the present system other shapes are also envisioned asdescribed herein. The upper housing 262 may have an outer peripheral rim263 which extends slightly past an outer periphery of the middle housing266 to protect for example the interface 276 or portions thereof such asswitches from unintended activation such as due to accidental contact.Accordingly, the outer peripheral rim 263 may protect the interface 276and portions thereof from for example accidental impact if, for example,the secondary device 200 is dropped unto a hard surface (e.g., adesktop, a floor, etc.) or is placed under a pillow.

FIG. 3B shows a bottom planar view of a portion of the secondary device200 in accordance with embodiments of the present system. The lowerhousing 264 may have an outer peripheral rim 265 which extends slightlypast an outer periphery of the middle housing 266 for example to protectthe interface 276 from unintended contact. The outer peripheries 263 and265 of the upper and lower housings 2652 and 264, respectively, may bethe same as (e.g., in shape and/or size) or different from each otherand may cooperate as described herein.

FIG. 3C shows a rear planar view of a portion of the secondary device200 in accordance with embodiments of the present system. The middlehousing 268 may include patterns and/or vents 282 to promote ventilation(e.g., cooling) and/or allow exiting of for example audio emissions(e.g., generated by a rendering by the speaker such as the SPK 212) froman interior cavity of the secondary device 200.

FIG. 4 shows a partially exploded front perspective view of a device 400in accordance with embodiments of the present system. As discussed, thedevice may operate as a secondary device that may for example be similarto the secondary device 200 and may include a body 460 which isillustratively shown as similar to the body 260. The body 460 mayenclose one or more of the components of the present system, such as therendering devices however, as described, one or more of these componentsmay also or alternatively be enclosed separate from the body 460.Accordingly, similar numerical designations may be used to designate thesame or similar portions. However, it should be understood that theseportions may, in accordance with embodiments of the present system,differ from those of the secondary device 200.

As discussed, the button 268 may operate as a snooze button and may be ahard-type switch including a cover portion 269 and one or more actuatorssuch as press-type switches 267-1 and 267-N (generally 267-x) thusforming a combination switch which may be pressed singularly forcorresponding functions and/or may be pressed in unison (e.g., two ormore switches being depressed simultaneously and/or in sequence) foranother function. For example, these functions and/or actuations may beassigned by default, by the system, by a user and/or may be otherwiseprogrammed. The power switch 270 may include a cover 271 coupled theretoand with which a user may interact to move (e.g., by sliding, etc.) thepower switch 270 to on or off positions.

An interface board 284 may be situated within the cavity 261 of the body260 and may be coupled to and/or may couple together one or more of thesnooze button 268, the power switch 270, the battery charging port 272,and the MIC 274. The middle housing 266 may include one or more openingsthrough which one or more of the snooze button 268, the power switch270, the battery charging port 272, and the MIC 274 may pass and/or beaccessed. The speaker 238 and/or the vibrator 246 may be situatedadjacent to the upper housing 262 and/or may be housed separate from thebody 460 as described. A coupler such as screws 279 (or other suitablecoupling method such as welding, friction fitting, etc.) may couple theupper housing 262 to the lower housing 264 so as to sandwich the middlehousing 266 therebetween. Accordingly, the screws 279 may pass throughopenings 280 which are situated within the lower housing 264. Caps 278may then be frictionally fit within at least a portion of the openings280 so as to conceal the screws 279. The power storage device 220 mayinclude any suitable power storage device which may provide power suchas a rechargeable battery and/or a capacitor and may receive a chargefor example from the battery charging port 272.

FIG. 5 shows a functional flow diagram of a portion of a process 500performed in accordance with embodiments of the present system. Theprocess 500 may be performed using one or more computers communicatingover a network and may obtain information from, and/or store informationto one or more memories which may be local and/or remote from eachother. The process 500 may include one of more of the following acts. Inembodiments of the present system, the acts of process 500 may beperformed using one or more alarm systems operating in accordance withembodiments of the present system. Further, one or more of these actsmay be combined and/or separated into sub-acts, if desired. Further, oneor more of these acts may be skipped depending upon for examplesettings, embodiments, etc. In operation, the process may start duringact 501 and then proceed to act 503.

During act 503, the user may for example download a correspondingapplication to a primary device, such as a smartphone. In accordancewith embodiments of the present system, the Application may includeprogramming portions that configure the primary device for operation asdescribed herein such as by providing a user interface as described.Thereafter, the primary may attempt to form a communication link withthe secondary device during act 509 to enable further operation. Forexample, in a case wherein a Bluetooth™ communication link is utilized,turning on the secondary device may cause the secondary device to bediscoverable on the smartphone. Thereafter the primary and secondarydevices may attempt to communicate together (e.g., may attempt pairingby a Bluetooth™ communication link) during act 511 over any suitableconnection and/or method. For example, in accordance with embodiments ofthe present system, a Bluetooth™ connection may be established (e.g.,pairing) between the primary device and the selected secondary device.In accordance with embodiments of the present system, a user may selecta preferred type of communication method (e.g., WiFi™, Bluetooth™,ZigBee™, proprietary, RFID, etc.) for communication when more than onesystem of communication is available between the devices. In accordancewith embodiments of the present system, other operations may be utilizedfor initiating the communication link such as depressing a button on thesecondary device to initiate a communication link with the primarydevice.

In an embodiment wherein one or more secondary devices are available, acommunication link may be attempted between the primary device and theone or more available secondary devices. In accordance with embodimentsof the present system, each device (e.g., primary and/or secondarydevices) may have a unique identification (ID) (e.g., a uniqueidentification). Thus, in accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem, for example each secondary device may be assigned a uniquenumber from 1 to P in a case wherein more than one secondary device isavailable. However, to simplify the discussion, only a primary andsingle secondary device (e.g., p=1) is discussed, for example having anID of ID=1 for the sake of clarity.

After the communication link is confirmed between the primary device andthe secondary device during act 511, the user may open the applicationto enable operation in accordance with the present system. For example,the application may be utilized to set the device (e.g., a secondarydevice 110-x) to operate in accordance with the present system as wellas depicting on the primary device an operating state (e.g.,communication link status such as connected, battery status, operatingmode such as alarm, sleep monitoring, etc.) of the secondary device. Ina case wherein the communication link is not confirmed, the process maycontinue to attempt communication (e.g., repeat act 509) until acommunication link is established during act 509 and/or may return toact 503 for further configuration operations.

In a case wherein the communication link is established, the applicationon the primary device may be utilized for sending control information tothe secondary device during act 513 such as to set an operating mode ofthe secondary device. In accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem, the control information may include alarm information (e.g.,date, time, alarm type, rendering device, etc.), operating modeinformation (e.g., sleep monitoring), rendering information, etc. Forexample, the process may configure alarm settings and/or alarm times(e.g., by date, day, time, etc.) for one or more alarm events. Inoperation, a user may set an alarm within the application on the primarydevice for a time (e.g., every Tuesday, this Tuesday, etc.) for a givenalarm event and transmit this information to a memory of the system,such as within the secondary device, as alarm information during act 513for later use (e.g., “later” as in at the time of a given alarm) by thesecondary device. In this way, there is no need for the primary andsecondary devices to have an operable communication link at the timewhen a given operating mode is intended (e.g., see act 519) such as at agiven alarm time for the secondary device to produce the given alarmand/or to control external devices (e.g., other devices, such as alight, speaker, haptic device, thermostat, coffee maker, etc.) toperform an operation at the given alarm time and/or at a time related tothe alarm time. For example, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, the secondary device may communicate with anotherdevice, such as a lamp, to increase a light brightness for example inintervals producing an increasing amount of light leading up to thealarm time. In other embodiments, the lamp may go from off to fullbrightness as desired. Further, at the alarm time one or more renderingdevices (as a portion of the secondary device and/or separate from it)may for example vibrate and/or produce an auditory rendering.

The setup routine of the application may provide a user with a suitableinterface such as a graphical user interface (GUI) with which a user mayinteract in accordance with the present system, such as for example toconfigure one or more of the primary and secondary devices. For example,the GUI may be utilized to set the alarm settings such as one or morealarm times for one or more corresponding alarm events. For example,FIG. 6 shows a screen shot 600 of a portion of an alarm configurationGUI 601 generated in accordance with embodiments of the present system.The GUI 601 may be rendered on any suitable device 691 such as a smartphone (e.g., an iPhone™ is illustratively shown), laptop, tablet and/orother device and the like. In accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem, the GUI may be provided by an application, such as an apprunning on the device 691.

Referring to FIG. 6, the GUI 601 may include day/date information 603that a user may select to set the day and/or date of a given alarm event(e.g., 3 P.M. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, October 25, etc.). TheGUI 601 may include a plurality of menu-items with which a user mayselect set and/or reset one or more alarm events. For example, a usermay select the day/date information 603 (e.g., by selecting the day/dateinformation 603 menu item) and the process upon determining that theuser has selected day/date information may generate a text entry boxand/or a calendar with which a user may enter information related to aselected day/date/year for a current alarm event. The current alarmevent may be switched on or off using an alarm on/off icon 605 which mayindicate whether the alarm is set to be activated (e.g., as illustratedby an “on” icon) or not activated (e.g., as may be illustrated by an“off” icon for example in place of the “on” icon) at the current alarmevent time. For example, an “on” symbol may indicate that that thecurrent event is an active event (e.g., in which an alarm signal is tobe generated) while an “off” signal indicates that the current event isnot an active event (e.g., is an inactive event in which an alarm signalwill not be generated).

Alarm time information 607 may indicate a time at which current givenindicated alarm event is to occur (e.g., an alarm time/date/conditionsetting). Alarm rendering information 621 may indicate whether vibrationand/or sound modes (e.g., as represented by vibration and sound modesmenu items 613 and 609, respectively) are to be used for rendering analarm of the current alarm event as well as indicating desired renderinginformation (e.g., visual, auditory and/or haptic) and/or relateddevices (e.g., internal and/or external devices rendering devices), suchas a desired melody for an auditory alarm to be produced by a givenrendering device in an embodiment wherein different auditory informationand/or devices are selectable. A user may tap on visual, vibrationand/or sound modes menu items, such as vibration and/or sound modes menuitems 613 and 609, respectively, to toggle the mode on or off (e.g.,bright=on, dim=off) as may be desired.

A selected melody (e.g., a sound file for rendering) for a sound modemay be illustrated using by a melody menu item 611 (e.g., Melody 1, 2,3, . . . m-1, M, etc.). In accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem, there may be one or more selected melodies (e.g., M, where M isan integer) which may be stored for example as prerecorded and/orotherwise generated sound files (e.g., default memories stored prior todelivery of the secondary device to the user) in a memory of the systemsuch as a memory of the primary and/or secondary device. Accordingly, auser may not have to load rendering information, such as melodies asseparate files. For example, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, a user may select melodies from a stored plurality ofmelodies available on the secondary device thus simplifying a method ofsetting alarms. The rendering information such as melodies may beidentified by name (e.g., melody 1, melody 2, etc.), genre (e.g., Rock,Classical, etc.), and/or by description (e.g., for a melody, by title,author, singer, band, etc.). In accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, the melodies may include songs, repeating patterns(e.g., in pitch and/or tone), white noise, etc. In accordance withembodiments of the present system, the melodies may also be utilized foroperating the haptic device so that in effect, the melody may in placeof or in addition to being utilized for auditory rendering, may beutilized for generating haptic rendering, such as following a baselineof a selected melody.00

It is further envisioned that the primary device and the secondarydevice may communicate with each other, for example, to identifymelodies stored in a memory of the secondary device. During thiscommunication, the primary device and the secondary device maysynchronize with each other so that information such as sound files ofthe secondary device may be discovered by the primary device. Similarly,files of the primary device such as sound files may be transmitted tothe secondary device. Further, the secondary device may communicate withone or more external devices (e.g., other devices) for example todetermine the rendering capabilities of the one or more external devices(e.g., auditory, haptic, etc.).

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the secondarydevice may include melodies such as from a given genre which may bepre-programmed at the factory. Thus, a Rock-type secondary device mayinclude rock-type melodies while a Classical-type secondary device mayinclude classical-type melodies. A user may then select a secondarydevice based upon the type of music desired for the alarm. Graphicsand/or color of a secondary device may be customized so as to identify atype of secondary device. In accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem, the user may load and/or otherwise alter previously stored filessuch as the sound files (e.g., melodies) into the primary device and/orthe secondary device.

Referring back to FIG. 6, a user may select a rendering mode/menu item,such as the melody menu item 611 (e.g., by swiping through an open orclosed (e.g., a last melody of the list connects to a first item of thelist) of available melodies, etc. The system may display a plurality ofavailable melodies (e.g., sound files) which a user may select toassociate with the current alarm event. Then, the system may set thisuser-selected melody (e.g., sound file) as a selected melody as may berepresented by menu item 611 (e.g., “MELODY 1”). Thus, in a case whereinthe user selects MELODY 5, the system may set this melody as theselected melody. In a case wherein the sound mode is selected (e.g.,see, sound modes menu item 609), the secondary device may transfer thesound mode such as an alarm event to the secondary device for subsequentrendering of the selected melody (e.g., audibly and/or haptically, seeact 519 discussed further herein) when the corresponding alarm event istriggered for example at a set alarm time and/or date. An alarm eventnumber 619 may indicate a number (e.g., in consecutive order) of acurrent alarm event (e.g., “1” next to the alarm bell). In accordancewith embodiments of the present system, there may be a plurality (e.g.,X) of alarm events as discussed.

For example, FIG. 7 shows a screen shot 700 of a portion of an alarmconfiguration GUI 701 generated in accordance with embodiments of thepresent system. Assuming that there are X current alarm events (where Xis an integer), each of these X current alarm events may be representedby an alarm event window 701-1 through 701-X (generally 701-x) as shown.A user may select any of these alarm event windows 701-x (e.g., byswiping, double clicking, etc., as may be set by default, by the userand/or by the system) and the system may then display more detailedinformation about the selected alarm event and/or may provide a userwith an interface with which the use may interact to change settings ofthe corresponding alarm event. Thus, in a case wherein X=3, the threealarm event windows 701-1, 701-2, and 701-X may be rendered by theprocess for the convenience of the user. Further, each alarm event mayhave a predetermined alarm duration value associated with it (e.g., see,alarm duration 625, shown in FIG. 6 which in the illustrative embodimentis set to 2 min). This value may be set by default, by the system and/orby a user and may correspond to a total alarm rendering time asdiscussed herein.

Referring back to FIG. 6, the process may generate a volume menu itemsuch as a volume slider 617 with which a user may interact to viewand/or set/reset a volume of the corresponding selected melody (e.g.,see 611 MELODY 1 in FIG. 6). Accordingly, a user may slide the volumeslider 617 to set a volume of the selected melody to be associated withthe current alarm event. Similarly, a haptic menu item such as avibration slider may be generated so that a user may select a hapticforce, frequency and/or pattern (e.g., vibrate, stop, vibrate, stop,etc.) to associate with a corresponding vibration mode to associate withthe current alarm event (e.g., be haptically rendered by the currentalarm event). Similarly, a visual (e.g., lighting) menu item may begenerated so that a user may select a brightness levels, frequencyand/or pattern (e.g., turn on brightness, start dim and brighten inintervals, etc.) to associate with a corresponding alarm event. Inaccordance with embodiments of the present system, a single slider, suchas the slider 617 may be utilized to set two or more of a volume, ahaptic force and a brightness associated (e.g., rendered) with a givenmelody and/or alarm event.

A weekday menu item 615 may indicate a day of week selected for acurrent alarm (e.g., 7 day alarm). For example, in a case wherein a userwould like the current alarm event to be generated each week on the sameday and/or time (e.g., every Friday at 6:20 A.M.), a user may select oneof the days in the weekday menu item 615 so as to associate the selectedday of the week with the current alarm event. In accordance withembodiments of the present system, a device ID 623 may identify a deviceassociated with the current alarm event. Thus, in a case wherein adevice by ID 1 is identified with the current alarm event, when thecurrent alarm event is determined to occur (e.g., at its alarm time,date, etc.), the alarm may be rendered using a device whoseidentification is ID 1. The process may then store these alarm settingsas alarm information in a memory of the system such as a memory of theprimary device and/or secondary device.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the primary deviceand the one or more secondary devices may be coupled (e.g., through anetwork, etc.) to determine capabilities of the one or more secondarydevices and/or to transmit information, such as alarm information,therebetween. For example, in accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem some secondary devices may include sensors, switches, ports,etc., of different types than other secondary devices. For example, somesecondary devices may include motion sensors (e.g., accelerationsensors, gravity sensors, etc.) while other secondary devices may notand/or may include one or more other sensors. Thus, the capabilities ofsecondary devices may differ as desired. For example, a basic secondarydevice may be provided that has less features and/or programmablecapabilities than a higher end (e.g., more expensive) secondary device.Accordingly, a primary device may query a given secondary device toidentify the capabilities of the given secondary device. Then, theprimary device may take into account the capabilities of the secondarydevice to form settings, menus, GUIs, etc., which may correspond withthe capabilities of a specific secondary device. Thus, for example, agiven secondary device may include a temperature sensor. Accordingly,the primary device may detect this capability, acquire stored and/orcurrent temperature information from the temperature sensor and providea suitable interface (e.g., GUI) for this secondary device, such asprovide a display of temperature information, enable operating modes,etc., for the convenience of a user. Similarly, a secondary device mayinclude capabilities to operate as a remote speaker phone (e.g.,microphone and/or speaker) in concert which a phone application of theprimary device. Accordingly, in these embodiments, the primary devicemay be operative to control the secondary device to act as a speakerphone and/or otherwise provide a GUI for use, setting, etc., of thiscapability. As may be readily appreciated, in a case wherein a secondarydevice does not have a given capability, the present system may adaptthe provided GUI to delete and/or otherwise indicate that a givencapability is not supported by a given secondary device. In accordancewith embodiments of the present system, portions of the operating modesuch as alarm information may be transmitted to one or more memories(e.g., a memory present on the secondary device) for storage.

Referring back to FIG. 5, after completing act 513, the secondary devicemay receive the information sent by the primary device during act 517.As discussed, during act 517, the secondary device may receive thecontrol information from the primary device and process this signal toextract the control information, such as alarm information containedtherein. The extracted control information may include information whichindicates whether to, for example, turn on or off a current alarm,whether to enable or disable sound (e.g., turn sound on or off,respectively), whether to turn a vibrator on or off, whether to play asound file (e.g., a sound file that is identified by the sound file IDand which may be stored in a memory of the secondary device), whether tocontrol an external device at the time of an alarm, and/or otherwise setan operating mode of the secondary device as discussed herein Aftercompleting act 517, the process may continue to act 518.

During act 518, the secondary device may process the control informationsuch as form an alarm signal based upon alarm information extracted fromthe control information. Accordingly, the secondary device may analyzethe extracted alarm information and use this information to determinefor example a response when rendering an alarm (e.g., see act 519). Inaccordance with embodiments, a secondary device may have availablelocally (e.g., in a memory such as the memory 1020 illustratively shownin FIG. 10) responses that are available to the secondary device (e.g.,haptic, visual, auditory, etc.), though in accordance with embodimentsof the present system, further responses may also be received forexample as a portion of the alarm information. Based upon thesedeterminations, the process may form the alarm signal at the secondarydevice. The alarm signal may include one or more continuous and/ordiscrete signals (e.g., stored, received, etc.) and may be transmittedto one or more corresponding rendering devices of the secondary deviceand/or separate from the secondary device which are determined to beoperative or otherwise available (e.g., for a separate rendering device)when rendering the alarm. For example, in a case wherein it isdetermined to play a melody (e.g., stored and/or received such as fromthe primary device), the alarm signal may include this melody and, assuch, may include audio information which may be transmitted to arendering device such as a speaker when rendering the alarm. Further,the secondary device may determine that an external speaker isavailable, such as through a Bluetooth™ communication link and the audioinformation may be transmitted also or alternatively to the externalspeaker for rendering the alarm.

With regard to the haptic rendering device, such as a vibrator, in acase wherein it is determined to operate a vibrator, the alarm signalmay include a signal which may cause the vibrator to operate whenrendering the alarm. Accordingly, the alarm signal may include a signalto switch the vibrator on (e.g., toggle on) and/or may include a signalto drive the vibrator such that, after the end of the signal isrendered, the vibrator stops operating. In accordance with embodimentsof the present system, this signal may be transmitted to the vibratorand may include a discrete signal (e.g., to toggle the vibrator on oroff) or a constant signal (e.g., to drive the vibrator) when renderingthe alarm.

Thus, in accordance with embodiments of the present system, the processmay form one or more alarm signals configured to drive one or morerendering devices in accordance with the extracted alarm information.For example, in a case wherein the extracted alarm information requiresvibration to be output but no melody to be played, the process may forman alarm signal to drive an internal vibrator of the secondary deviceand/or an external vibrator when rendering the alarm. During this act,in a case wherein a melody (e.g., sound file) is to be played during analarm event, the process may obtain the corresponding sound file from amemory of the system such as a memory of the secondary device and maygenerate a corresponding alarm signal for example to drive the speaker.In this way, the melody may be rendered by the speaker. In accordancewith embodiments of the present system, the sound file may be maintainedlocally. In this way, the process may for example conserve systemresources by not having to stream the sound file from the primarydevice. After completing act 518, the process may continue to act 519.

During act 519, the secondary device may operate to set an operatingmode such as to render the alarm signal at the time of a set alarm.Accordingly, the alarm signal may be provided to one or more renderingdevices which may then render the alarm signal. During this act, theprocess may also start an alarm interval counter which may count a totaltime that the current alarm signal is being rendered by the secondarydevice and/or one or more other rendering devices.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, when the secondarydevice is programmed to perform in accordance with an operating mode,one or more of the primary and secondary device may also communicatewith one or more further devices (e.g., other devices) to controloperation of the one or more other devices. For example, in a casewherein the secondary device is programmed to facilitate sleep of theuser, such as by rendering a descending audio output, the secondarydevice may communicate with another device, such as a thermostat over awireless coupling (e.g., Bluetooth™), to reduce a heat setting of thethermostat while controlling the internal and/or external renderingdevice. Similarly, in a case wherein the secondary device is programmedto facilitate waking of the user, such as by controlling a renderingdevice to render an ascending audio output, the secondary device maycommunicate with the other device at that time or some predeterminedtime before, to increase a heat setting of the thermostat, light settingof a lamp, etc. As readily appreciated, while external devices (e.g.,one or more other devices) such as rendering devices, a thermostat,etc., are illustratively described as other devices, additional devicesand device types may be suitably controlled.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the secondarydevice may attempt communication with the primary device at the alarmtime. For example, at the alarm time the secondary device may thoughneed not attempt to communicate with the primary device (e.g., such asover a Bluetooth™ connection) to determine whether the primary device isavailable. In accordance with embodiments of the present system, whenthe primary device is available (e.g., active, in a sleep state, etc.),the user interface may be produced on the primary device to facilitateoperation, such as to control the alarm rendered during act 519 (e.g.,see act 523 described below). As envisioned, whether or not the primarydevice is available when the alarm is rendered, stopped, etc., thesecondary device will operate as described. After completing act 519,the process may continue to act 521.

During act 521 the process may determine whether an off and/or othercontrol signal is generated. In accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, the off and/or other control signal may be generated atthe secondary device directly, such as through operation of one or moreof the buttons, switches, etc., present on the secondary device. Inaddition, the off and/or other control signal may be generated at theprimary device (e.g., through operation of the application interface,such as the user interface provided by the application on the primarydevice) and be transmitted to the secondary device to directly controlthe secondary device when a communication link is present between theprimary and secondary devices. For example, when an alarm event occurson the secondary device, it may automatically search for a correspondingprimary device, such as a smartphone. In a case wherein a correspondingsmartphone for example is found, the secondary device may for examplepair with the smartphone, bring up the corresponding user interface(e.g., application), etc., so that the operation of the secondary devicemay be controlled from the smartphone without requiring furtherintervention from the user (e.g., without requiring a manual pairingoperation by the user). In this way, control of the secondary device maybe performed directly on the primary device at the alarm time forexample to make it easier to snooze/turn off the secondary device viathe smartphone user interface. Accordingly, in a case wherein it isdetermined that the off and/or other control signal is generated, theprocess may continue to act 523 where it may respond accordingly. Forexample, the smartphone may be utilized to turn off the alarm by, forexample, sending control information to the secondary device toterminate the alarm signal provided to the rendering device and/or otherdevices. Thereafter, the process may end during act 573.

However, in a case wherein it is determined that the off signal is notgenerated, the process may continue to act 525. During act 525, theprocess may determine whether a snooze signal is generated (e.g., in acase wherein a snooze switch is actuated) on the primary and/orsecondary device as similarly described regarding the off signal.Accordingly, in a case wherein it is determined that a snooze signal isgenerated, the process may continue to act 527. However, in a casewherein it is determined that a snooze signal is not generated, theprocess may continue act 521 for example until an end alarm timeinterval is reached, an off switch is actuated or until a snooze buttonis actuated. For example, the alarm interval may be determined to elapsewhen an alarm interval counter has a value which is greater than orequal to a predetermined alarm duration value. The alarm duration valuemay be set to a value by default, by the system and/or by a user torepresent a maximum alarm duration such as 120 seconds, etc. The alarminterval may be determined not to have elapsed when the alarm intervalcounter has a value which is less than the predetermined alarm durationvalue.

During act 527, the process may perform a snooze process using anysuitable system. For example, the process may temporarily interrupt thecurrent alarm (e.g., by interrupting the alarm signal) for a snoozeperiod of time (e.g., 5 minutes, etc., as may be determined by default,by the system and/or by a user). Accordingly, the process may start atimer to determine when the snooze period of time elapses and may thenresume the rendering of the alarm signal as before snoozing (e.g., seeact 519). Further, it is envisioned that the process may suspend thealarm interval timer during the snooze period so that the alarm intervaltimer stops during the snooze period and starts (from the same count)when the snooze period of time elapses. After completing act 527, theprocess may repeat act 521. Accordingly, in a case wherein anothercommand (e.g., snooze or off for one or more rendering devices) isreceived while already snoozing, the process may reset the snooze (e.g.,start a new snooze interval) or turn off the one or more renderingdevices as appropriate.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, the snooze signalmay be generated by selecting (e.g., by depressing, etc.) a snooze key(e.g., a snooze button, a user interface item, etc.) on the secondarydevice and/or on the primary device as described. Selection of thesnooze key may generate a signal to inform the secondary device of theselection by, for example, transmitting the signal that the snooze keywas selected to the secondary device. The secondary device in receipt ofthis signal may then take appropriate action. For example, the secondarydevice may temporarily interrupt the current alarm (as described above)for a threshold period of time as described above with respect to act525. Similarly, the primary device when in communication with thesecondary device during the alarm event may update a status of thecorresponding alarm event, for example to indicate on the user interfacethat the secondary device was instructed to snooze and may render thisupdated status on a rendering device of the system, as desired.Accordingly, when a user selects (e.g., by depressing) a snooze buttonon the secondary device, the primary device may be informed of this andmay render information indicating such (e.g., 5 min snooze on).

With regard to acts 519 and 523, the snooze and off buttons may besituated on the secondary device and/or primary device as described. Forexample, with regard to the primary device that is in communication withthe secondary device when an alarm event occurs, the process maygenerate a GUI to indicate to a user a current status of the alarm eventand on/off/snooze keys (e.g., user interface objects such as a displayof selectable buttons provided on the UI) for a user to select. Forexample, FIG. 8 shows a screen shot 800 of a portion of an alarmconfiguration GUI 801 generated for example on a primary device inaccordance with embodiments of the present system. A graphicalrepresentation 804 may illustrate a current status of the secondarydevice (e.g., vibrating). One or more menu items such as Stop and Snoozemenu items, 806 and 808, respectively, may include menu-items generatedin accordance with embodiments of the present system. The graphicalrepresentation 804 may be based upon the alarm information.

For example, FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B and FIG. 9C each show a portion ofgraphical representations 915A through 915C, respectively, that may berendered in accordance with embodiments of the present system. Forexample, in a case wherein the alarm information is set for rendering anaudible melody only, a melody only graphical representation as shown inFIG. 9A may be rendered on a primary device. Similarly, in a casewherein the alarm information is set to vibration only, a vibration onlygraphical representation of FIG. 9B may be rendered. Lastly, in a casewherein the alarm information is set to vibration and melody, avibration and melody graphical representation may be rendered as shownin FIG. 9C. These representations may represent a current state of analarm which is currently occurring on the secondary device and may beupdated in real time and/or may represent a future state of a givenalarm.

With regard to the snooze and/or off keys, in accordance withembodiments of the present system it is envisioned that one or more ofthese keys may be generated by moving the primary or secondary device ina desired pattern (e.g., a horizontal waving, etc.). In this way,movement sensors (e.g., accelerometers, motion sensors, etc.) mayidentify for example movement actions and then form corresponding alarminformation. For example, the process may analyze the motion informationto detect a corresponding motion. In a case wherein the correspondingmotion is determined to match a predetermined pattern (e.g., where thepatterns may be defined for each action such as an off pattern, a snoozepattern, etc. as may be defined by default, by the user and/or by thesystem), the process may take an appropriate action without furtherinteraction with a corresponding user interface. For example, inaccordance with embodiments of the present system, moving the primary orsecondary device in a sideways pattern (e.g., laterally) may indicate asnooze command. Similarly, in accordance with embodiments of the presentsystem, moving the primary or secondary device in an up and down patternmay indicate an off command. This motion may be sensed by one or moresensors of a corresponding device such as motion sensors and may bedetermined by a controller of the corresponding device or, for examplein a case wherein the device is a secondary device, identified motioninformation may be communicated to the primary device for determinationby a controller of the primary device. In this way, sensor data from thesecondary device may be transmitted to the primary device in real timefor analysis.

In accordance with embodiments of the present system, a user may shakeor otherwise move the primary or secondary device in a desired pattern,the process may detect the desired pattern of motion (e.g., through ananalysis of motion information from one or more sensors of the system),the process may then determine whether there is a command (or task)assigned to the detected pattern of motion, and in a case wherein it isdetermined that there is a command (or task) assigned to the detectedpattern of motion, the process may perform this command or task.

FIG. 10 shows a portion of a system 1000 including a secondary device1005 in accordance with embodiments of the present system. For example,a portion of the present system may include a processor 1010 (e.g., acontroller) operationally coupled to a memory 1020, one or morerendering devices 1030 such as a display, haptic device, etc., one ormore sensors 1040, one or more actuators 1060, a transmit/receive(Tx/Rx) portion 1080, and a user input device 1070. In accordance withembodiments of the present system, although each of the memory, therendering device, the one or more sensors, the one or more actuators1060, and the transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) portion 1080 are shown separatelyfor clarity, one or more of these portions may be combined together withthe processor. For example, the processor may include thetransmit/receive (Tx/Rx) portion. Further, the portions shown may alsobe encompassed by one or more discrete devices (e.g., separate from thesecondary device 1005) such as portions of the rendering device 1030,the user input device 1070 and/or other devices as described herein. Forexample, while the user input 1070 may form a portion of the secondarydevice 1005 (e.g., snooze key, etc.), the user input may also oralternatively be a portion of the primary device as described. Further,the transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) portion may be made up of two or morediscrete portions, such as a transmitter/receiver portion and a discreteantenna. In addition, the memory 1020 may be any type of device forstoring application data as well as other data (e.g., auditory, visualand haptic responses to alarm information) related to the describedoperation. The application data and other data are received by theprocessor 1010 for configuring (e.g., programming) the processor 1010 toperform operation acts in accordance with the present system. Theprocessor 1010 so configured becomes a special purpose machineparticularly suited for performing in accordance with embodiments of thepresent system.

The user input 1070 may include a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, amotion-sensitive device or other device, such as a touch-sensitivedisplay, which may be stand alone or be a part of a system, such as partof a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobilephone (e.g., a smart phone), a monitor, a wearable display (e.g., smartglasses, etc.), a smart- or dumb-terminal or other device forcommunicating with the processor 1010 via any operable link. The userinput device 1070 may be operable for interacting with the processor1010 including enabling interaction within a user interface (e.g., GUI)as described herein. Clearly the processor 1010, the memory 1020, therendering device 1030, and/or user input device 1070 may all or partlybe a portion of a computer system or other device such as a primary,secondary and/or other device as described herein.

The actuators 1060 may be controlled by the processor 1010 in accordancewith embodiments of the present system. The actuators 1060 may controlone or more haptic devices such as one or more vibrators, motors, etc.,of the system so as to generate a desired vibration under the control ofthe processor 1010. For example, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent system, the actuators 1060 may include a motor controller whichmay control the speed of a vibrator under the control of the processor1010. In accordance with embodiments of the present system, theactuators may be a portion of an external haptic device that may operateunder control of the processor 1010 such as through a wireless link.

The methods of the present system are particularly suited to be carriedout by a computer software program, such program containing modulescorresponding to one or more of the individual steps or acts describedand/or envisioned by the present system. Such program may of course beembodied in a computer-readable medium, such as an integrated chip, aperipheral device or memory, such as the memory 1020 or other memorycoupled to the processor 1010.

The program and/or program portions contained in the memory 1020 mayconfigure the processor 1010 to implement the methods, operational acts,and functions disclosed herein. The memories may be distributed, forexample between the primary and/or secondary devices, or local, and theprocessor 1010, where additional processors may be provided, may also bedistributed (e.g., as a portion of one or more of the primary device,the secondary device, the rendering device and/or other devices thatoperate in accordance with embodiments of the present system) or localto a device,. The memories may be implemented as electrical, magnetic oroptical memory, or any combination of these or other types of storagedevices. Moreover, the term “memory” should be construed broadly enoughto encompass any information able to be read from or written to anaddress in an addressable space accessible by the processor 1010. Thememory 1020 may include a non-transitory memory. With this definition,information accessible through a network such as the network 1080 isstill within the memory, for instance, because the processor 1010 mayretrieve the information from the network 1080 for operation inaccordance with the present system.

The processor 1010 is operable for providing control signals and/orperforming operations in response to input signals from the user inputdevice 1070 as well as in response to other devices of a network (e.g.,in response to signals received from a primary device) and executinginstructions stored in the memory 1020. The processor 1010 may includeone or more of a microprocessor, an application-specific or general-useintegrated circuit(s), a logic device, etc. Further, the processor 1010may be a dedicated processor for performing in accordance with thepresent system or may be a general-purpose processor wherein only one ofmany functions operates for performing in accordance with the presentsystem. The processor 1010 may operate utilizing a program portion,multiple program segments, or may be a hardware device utilizing adedicated or multi-purpose integrated circuit.

While the present invention has been shown and described with referenceto particular exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that present invention is not limited thereto, butthat various changes in form and details, including the combination ofvarious features and embodiments, may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

Finally, the above-discussion is intended to be merely illustrative ofthe present system and should not be construed as limiting the appendedclaims to any particular embodiment or group of embodiments. Thus, whilethe present system has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, it should also be appreciated that numerous modificationsand alternative embodiments may be devised by those having ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the broader and intended spiritand scope of the present system as set forth in the claims that follow.In addition, the section headings included herein are intended tofacilitate a review but are not intended to limit the scope of thepresent system. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to beregarded in an illustrative manner and are not intended to limit thescope of the appended claims.

In interpreting the appended claims, it should be understood that:

a) the word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of other elementsor acts than those listed in a given claim;

b) the word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude thepresence of a plurality of such elements;

c) any reference signs in the claims do not limit their scope;

d) several “means” may be represented by the same item or hardware orsoftware implemented structure or function;

e) any of the disclosed elements may be comprised of hardware portions(e.g., including discrete and integrated electronic circuitry), softwareportions (e.g., computer programming), and any combination thereof;

f) hardware portions may be comprised of one or both of analog anddigital portions;

g) any of the disclosed devices or portions thereof may be combinedtogether or separated into further portions unless specifically statedotherwise;

h) no specific sequence of acts or steps is intended to be requiredunless specifically indicated;

i) the term “plurality of” an element includes two or more of theclaimed element, and does not imply any particular range of number ofelements; that is, a plurality of elements may be as few as twoelements, and may include an immeasurable number of elements; and

j) the term and/or and formatives thereof should be understood to meanthat only one or more of the listed elements may need to be suitablypresent in the system in accordance with the claims recitation and inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the present system.

1. An alarm and monitoring system comprising a primary device and atleast one secondary device, the alarm and monitoring system comprising:at least one controller configured to: determine whether at least onealarm event is set; establish a wireless communication between a primarydevice and the secondary device, when it is determined that the alarmevent has been set; transmit an alarm event signal including alarminformation from the primary device to the secondary device inaccordance with the alarm event that is determined to have been set;generate an alarm signal by the secondary device in accordance with atleast the alarm information; and render the generated alarm signal on arendering device.
 2. The alarm and monitoring system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one controller is configured to receive the transmittedalarm event signal at the secondary device.
 3. The alarm and monitoringsystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one controller is configured togenerate the alarm signal at the secondary device.
 4. The alarm andmonitoring system of claim 1, wherein the at least one controller isconfigured to determine capabilities of the secondary device.
 5. Thealarm and monitoring system of claim 4, wherein the at least onecontroller is configured to form the alarm event signal in accordancewith the determined capabilities of the secondary device.
 6. The alarmand monitoring system of claim 5, wherein when generating the alarmsignal, the at least one controller is configured to determine whethercommunication is established between the primary and secondary devices.7. The alarm and monitoring system of claim 6, wherein when the at leastone controller determines that communication is established, the atleast one controller is configured to provide a user interface inaccordance with the determined capabilities of the secondary device. 8.The alarm and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the secondary devicecomprises a memory and the controller is configured to generate thealarm signal in accordance with rendering information that is stored inthe memory.
 9. The alarm and monitoring system of claim 1, wherein thesecondary device is configured to control one or more other devices togenerate the alarm signal.
 10. The alarm and monitoring system of claim9, wherein the one or more other devices comprises at least one of anauditory, visual and haptic rendering device to generate the alarmsignal.
 11. A method of operating an alarm and monitoring systemcomprising a primary device and at least one secondary device, themethod comprising acts of: at least one controller determining whetherat least one alarm event is set; establishing a communication between aprimary device and the secondary device when it is determined that thealarm event has been set; transmitting an alarm event signal includingalarm information from the primary device to the secondary device inaccordance with the alarm event that is determined to have been set;generating an alarm signal by the secondary device in accordance with atleast the alarm information; and rendering the generated alarm signal ona rendering device.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the act ofestablishing the communication comprises an act of establishing awireless communication between the primary and secondary devices. 13.The method of claim method 11, comprising an act of generating the alarmsignal at the secondary device.
 14. The method of claim 11, comprisingan act of determining capabilities of the secondary device.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, comprising an act of forming the alarm event signalin accordance with the determined capabilities of the secondary device.16. The method of claim 15, wherein the act of generating the alarmsignal comprises an act of determining whether communication isestablished between the primary and secondary devices.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein when it is determined that communication isestablished, the method comprising an act of providing a user interfacein accordance with the determined capabilities of the secondary device.18. The method of claim 11, the method comprising an act of generatingthe alarm signal in accordance with rendering information that is storedin a local memory.
 19. The method of claim 11, comprising an act ofcontrolling one or more other devices to generate the alarm signal. 20.The method of claim 19, comprising an act of the one or more otherdevices generating at least one of an auditory, visual and haptic alarmsignal.